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Extreme close-up of TransAsia Airways crash 0:24
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This extreme close-up shows a TransAsia Airways aircraft crashing into the Keelung River in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Credit: Channel NewsAsia Singapore.
- news.com.au
- 04 Feb 2015
- News
Rescue operation underway ... The TransAsia Airways plane lies partly submerged in the Keelung River in New Taipei City. Picture: New Taipei City Fire Department Source: Supplied
A PASSENGER plane with 58 people on board plunged into a river after clipping a road bridge outside Taiwan’s capital, with 27 people rescued and others trapped inside.
The number of fatalities are unclear, but the Taiwanese Civil Aviation Authority said in a press conference that there were nine confirmed deaths, 18 people were injured, and 31 people who were unaccounted for. Since then the Chinese Xinhua news agency has stated 12 people have died.
There were five crew members and two passengers were children.
The TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane was on a domestic flight when it hit a road bridge before ploughing into the Keelung River in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Lives lost ... the latest TransAsia Air plane crash in Taipei. Picture: Taiwan's CTI News/Twitter Source: Supplied
CNA said the flight from Taipei to the outlying island of Kinmen lost contact with flight controllers at 10.55am local time.
At least 170 emergency staff have been deployed - including ambulances, fire engines and watercraft - to assist in the rescue operation.
Rescuers are still at the crash site working to free trapped passengers and recover parts of the wreckage.
Fatalities rise ... rescue personnel work to free passengers from a TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane that crash-landed into a river outside Taiwan's capital Taipei. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Television images showed rescuers standing on large sections of broken wreckage trying to pull passengers out of the plane with ropes. Those who were rescued — including two children -- were put in dinghies and taken to the shore.
Some were then loaded on stretchers and all 27 rescued have been taken to hospital, reports said.
Survivors ... passengers from the TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
They have also released the names of those on board.
The plane was being flown by Liao Jianzong and Liu Zizhong, and a third trainee pilot called Hong Binzhong.
As many as 31 passengers were from mainland China, Taiwan’s TVBS news broadcaster said. Passengers on board were from Taiwan and China.
Wu Jun Hong, the city’s chief firefighter, has described the rescue effort for reporters at the scene of the accident.
Wu said the plane is 27m long and a crane is being used to retrieve the head of the plane from the water.
Waiting for help .. passengers in the Transasia Air plane crash. Picture: Taiwan's CTI News/Twitter Source: Supplied
Parts of the wrecked fuselage of the turboprop ATR 72 jutted out of the Keelung River just a couple dozen metres from the shore near the city’s downtown Sungshan airport.
The main section of fuselage was on its side, missing a wing.
Rescuers clustered around the plane in rubber boats more than two hours after the crash, and could be seen pulling carry-on luggage from an open plane door.
Moving the injured ... a rescue crew carries a passenger from a TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 turboprop airplane. Picture: Ashley Pon/Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Rescuing survivors ... a passenger from a TransAsia ATR 72-600 turboprop plane that crash-landed into a river outside Taiwan's capital Taipei on a stretcher. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Since the crash, terrifiying images have also emerged of how the plane went off course before it hit the bridge and then crashed into the river.
Terrifying images ... A montage of dashboard cam images showing the moments before the TransAsia Airways plane crash in New Taipei City. Source: Missxoxo168 / Twitter Source: Twitter
Taiwanese TV stations continue to broadcast live footage of rescue workers in life vests and yellow helmets surrounding the plane’s partially-submerged fuselage in inflatable rafts.
Passengers rescued from river after TransAsia Airways crash 0:30
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A RESCUE operation is underway for passengers trapped after a TransAsia Airways plane, with 58 people on board, crashed and sunk. Credit: TVBS.
- news.com.au
- 04 Feb 2015
- News
Pictures circulating social media also showed some damage the plane did to a taxi after it clipped the car before it slammed through the wall of a motorway and then crashed into the Keelung River.
The driver survived the incident and was taken to hospital for further medical treatment.
Close call ... a taxi was clipped by the plane as it crashed. Picture: TVBS/YouTube Source: Supplied
TransAsia Airways #GE235 was a flight from Taipei to Kinmen. It crashed less than 3 minutes after take off pic.twitter.com/Prpj1emK2y
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 4, 2015 
On the scene ... rescue personnel put an injured passenger into an ambulance. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
The New Taipei City Fire Department has dispatched five rescue teams, equipped with speed boats, to the accident site near the Nanyang Bridge in Xizhi district, CNA said.
The aeroplane was flying to the offshore island of Kinmen and had only just left Taipei Songshan Airport when the accident happened.
The crash site ... rescue teams work to free people from a TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 turboprop airplane that crashed into the Keelung River. Picture: Ashley Pon/Getty Images Source: Getty Images
TransAsia Airways was involved in another fatal crash less than a year ago, while attempting to land at Magong Airport on July 23. Forty-seven of the 58 people on board the ATR-72-500 were killed, and seven seriously injured when the plane crashed at the end of the runway and slid into residential buildings.
Prior to that, the Taiwan based airline was involved in a runway collision with a truck in March 2003. All 175 passengers and crew survived the incident at Tainan Airport when the truck trespassed the tarmac into the path of the A320.
In December 2002, a cargo flight operated by TransAsia crashed killing the two crew when severe icing disabled the main components of the ATR-72-200.
Owned by Goldsun Constructions and Development in Taiwan, TransAsia has a fleet of 23 aircraft and flies to 33 domestic and international destinations.
The airline has been operating as a commercial carrier since 1951. The company is currently owned by Golden Development & Construction Co Ltd.
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